POSTAL NEWS
No 29-2020
Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector
|
1. Pos Malaysia continues to serve the nation during
MCO. April 09, 2020.
2.
President
Trump is Being Misinformed About the Postal Service. April 08,
2020.
3. UPS:
ramping up around-the-clock operations to provide PPE. April 08, 2020.
4. Poste Italiane and Carabinieri together to deliver the pension to the elderly. April 06, 2020.
5. Posti is helping to distribute the authorities’ letter to citizens
regarding the coronavirus.April 06 ,
2020.
|
1. Pos Malaysia continues to serve the nation during MCO
April 09, 2020
When it comes to delivery services, Pos Malaysia is often the first that pops up in people’s mind.
Since
the Movement Control Order (MCO) took effect on March 18 in a move to curb the
spread COVID-19, Pos Malaysia, along with other essential service providers in
the country, continues to play an important role in keeping the nation
connected and essential goods accessible.
Its
Group Chief Executive Officer, Syed Md Najib Syed Md Noor, said Pos Malaysia is
raising the bar to ensure uninterrupted postal and courier services to the
public especially for those without the option to leave their homes such as
patients in need of prescribed medicine or people with special needs requiring
essential items delivered to their doorsteps.
“Our
employees are working tirelessly around the clock to ensure deliveries are
carried out daily so that essential goods and online purchases reach the
customers during the MCO.
“The
demand for parcel deliveries throughout the MCO has shown an increase in
volume, due to the intensified online shopping activities by customers who have
been staying at home…this is a good sign, as it shows that members of the
public are adhering to the MCO guidelines and social distancing rule,” he told
Bernama recently.
Syed
Md Najib said during the MCO, patients who are confined at their homes can rely
on Pos Malaysia to deliver their medicines from more than 160 government
hospitals nationwide.
“The
Health Ministry is offering free delivery of medicine through its Medicines By
Post (UMP) service for three months until June 30…Pos Malaysia is proud to be
part of this noble effort which eases the burden of patients during this
challenging time, by delivering medication directly to their homes and keeping
them safe indoors.
“We
are also delivering essential goods as part of the Stay Home Essential campaign
with eCommerce platform, Shopee, that aims to encourage customers to stay home
and purchase their essential goods online, ensuring Malaysians that Pos
Malaysia has the reach nationwide and ensure their letters, parcels and goods
are safe,” he said.
He
also reminded the public to ensure home addresses are used as their delivery
address when making an online purchase as Pos Malaysia is unable to deliver
goods to business addresses that are currently closed during the MCO period.
Syed
Md Najib said Pos Malaysia has about 23,000 employees nationwide with over
15,000 workers in the frontline which include counter and processing services,
transport management, mail and courier delivery.
He
reassured that the company has implemented a very stringent health and safety
measures to ensure that customers and frontline workers are well protected, and
everyone will have peace of mind when dealing with Pos Malaysia.
“Pos
Malaysia has taken the necessary precautionary measures where the counter
services and delivery personnel are safeguarded through compulsory usage of
face masks, gloves and hand sanitizer, along with the practice of social
distancing of at least one metre, seat distancing and body temperature
screening in across all post offices and outlets.
“For
items delivered via our postmen or Pos Laju deliveries, contactless delivery is
being practised where items received by customers will require no signature and
only verbalisation of their IC number is required, hence reducing close contact
between delivery personnel and customers,” he said.
He
added that the operating hours for all Pos Malaysia outlets nationwide have
been shortened, from the normal operating hours of 8:30am - 5:30pm to 8:30am -
3:00pm daily, while some of the outlets situated in private and government
premises are closed during the MCO.
“Customers
may make bill payment transactions and renewal of travel or auto insurance via
posonline.com.my and can also use our EziBox parcel lockers as their delivery
address, available at 255 location nationwide.
“Also,
our online shipping platform, Pos LajuSendParcel, is still available, offering
convenience, best rates, instant pricing quotes, free pick up services and
autogenerated consignment notes.
“Pos
LajuSendParcel offers drop-off services at 681 post offices, 99 Pos LajuCentres,
169 7-Eleven outlets and 170 Ezibox locations across the country,” he said,
adding that its International mail services and Express Mail Service (EMS) are
also available but limited to destination countries that are available during
this time.
For
additional convenience, he said Pos Malaysia is also in partnership with
CollectCo, a leading parcel delivery and collection network for e-Commerce
merchants and customers, and this extends Pos Laju’s delivery and collection
services to 30 CollectCo partner outlets, which include convenience stores and
pharmacies.
Syed Md Najib
also urged the public to refrain themselves from spreading false news or
information on social media which may create distrust and confusion related to
Pos Malaysia.
“We
encourage the public to stay united and follow the MCO rules during this trying
time, as our collective efforts are needed to help the government flatten the
virus growth curve. At the same time, the spread of fake news and messages are
seen as another set of virus that could potentially create mistrust and
dampened everyone’s efforts to stay safe,” he said.
Source :https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article
2. President Trump is Being Misinformed About the Postal Service
April 08, 2020
At a time when the heroic workers of
the US Postal Service are braving infection to serve the country during an
unprecedented national crisis, it is imperative that representatives at
all levels of the federal government have a fundamental understanding of the
value of the Postal Service, the cause of and solutions to its current
financial circumstances, and the dangers to the US economy and rural health in
the event of a USPS insolvency.
At the April 7 daily press briefing on
the pandemic, President Trump was asked about his Administration’s opposition
to financial relief for the Postal Service in the recently enacted CARES Act,
as reported by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to a Washington, D.C. television
station. Congressman Connolly warned that the Postal Service could run out of
money if action is not taken.
The President’s response warrants some
clarification about the status of the Postal Service:
1.
Nobody is blaming the President for the current
crisis facing the Postal Service. However, the COVID-19 pandemic threatens its
survival.
The shutdown of
the American economy to fight the COVID-19 virus has resulted in plummeting
postal revenues – just as we have seen in the airline and hospitality
industries, which have been given massive relief. The USPS needs the same kind
of relief because it must still keep delivering.
Every day it
delivers tens of millions of prescription drugs, invoices, payments,
newspapers, e-commerce deliveries, and soon it will be needed to deliver
stimulus checks, home virus tests and other pandemic-related goods and
information.
2.
The President noted that the Postal Service has
been losing money for years. That is true, but not due to the pricing of its
package services. The real reason is that Congress imposed a crushing mandate
on the Postal Service back in 2006, requiring it to prefund decades of future
health care premiums for retired postal employees in advance. This prefunding
mandate, which no other enterprise in the country faces, cost an average of
$5.4 billion annually since 2007, accounting for nearly 90 percent of the
agency’s losses. Between 2013 and 2018 it accounted for 100 percent of the
losses. On an operational basis, the Postal Service has been profitable for
most of the past decade.
Sen. Ron Johnson
(R-WI), chairman ofwho chairs the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs Committee, has called the prefunding mandate a mistake. In February,
the House passed the USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) by an overwhelming vote of
309-106, including 87 Republicans voting in favor. President Trump should
urge the Senate to pass the bipartisan Senate companion bill (S. 2965),
introduced by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), and sign it into law.
3.
The President has been told by private shippers and
others that that the Postal Service underprices its delivery services for
e-commerce packages from Amazon and other internet companies. This is not
true. By law, each of the Postal Service’s competitive products must earn
“profits” to cover the cost of universal service. In 2019, the USPS surplus on
package services was $8.3 billion, an amount verified by its regulator, the
Postal Regulatory Commission.
The President is
being fed bad information, often at the behest of private shipping companies
with a commercial ax to grind against the Postal Service, which is committed to
public service, not commercial profits.
The Postal
Service’s shipping services are affordable because it has the best and most
efficient last-mile delivery network in the country, linking 160 million
households and businesses every day of the week. The President is right that
the Postal Service has routes established in every nook and cranny in America,
and because it is delivering letters, flyers, newspapers and prescriptions to every
door every day, it can deliver packages very cost effectively. That benefits
every American, but it also benefits the private companies (UPS, FedEx and
Amazon) who rely of the Postal Service for last mile delivery.
4.
The President has suggested that the Postal
Service should raise its prices on Package Delivery. While his
revenue-raising intentions are well placed, the result of such a policy would
more likely lead to the loss of competitive volume and higher prices for
average Americans. Such a scenario would harm all American consumers and
millions of small businesses who rely on the Post Office, especially those
living and operating in rural states and inner cities that are not well served
by private shipping companies, such as Amazon.
Ironically, allowing the Postal
Service to fail would essentially divert business to Amazon and other
higher-priced private companies, none of which can replicate the Postal
Service’s universal first- and last-mile delivery network. Unlike private
companies, the Postal Service delivers to every home and business at affordable
prices.
The pandemic is threatening the Postal Service at a
time when its affordable, universal reach is needed more than ever. Last week,
USPS delivered President Trump’s guidelines for social distancing to every
American household. Even as letter volume has plummeted in recent weeks,
package deliveries have spiked as millions of Americans, sheltering in place to
stop the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, order goods online. The Postal
Service must also be there for us when self-administered tests and therapeutic
drugs are developed to combat the virus.
The Postal Service, the heart of the $1.6 trillion
mailing industry that employs 7 million Americans, will also be crucial for
economic recovery. It will deliver stimulus checks to the tens of millions who
don’t have bank accounts or who have not given bank information to the IRS.
Once the crisis is over, the country and its businesses will need the Postal
Service to restore the economy. Indeed, in normal times, the USPS delivers 4
million prescriptions to American households. A third of all household bills
are still paid through the mail, and millions of small businesses and
household-based merchants rely of the Postal Service for package delivery,
invoicing and payments.
The Postal Service is not a partisan institution; it
operates in every corner of this country and it has hundreds of thousands of
workers -- Democrats, Republicans and Independents -- who are committed to
serving all the American people and their businesses. It is the largest
employer in many states and a deeply embedded part of virtually every American
community.
The Postal Service is by far the most trusted and most
loved federal agency. It has a 90 percent favorability rating, according to a
recent Pew Trust survey. Congress and the President should take action to
preserve this national treasure.
Although the Postal Service has not required any
taxpayer subsidies since the early 1980s, it does need taxpayer help right now.
Congress should provide an immediate injection of cash and commit to cover the
Postal Service’s losses over the next fiscal year, appropriating the difference
between revenues and costs until the crisis passes. For most of its history
(from 1775, when Benjamin Franklin was Postmaster General, all the way up to
1970), the Postal Service was funded by taxpayers and postage. A temporary
return to this dual-funding structure is vitally needed right now. It would be
a tragedy to let this pandemic kill such an important and essential American
institution.
It would also be an insult to the 600 postal employees
who have already contracted the virus while performing their essential duties –
and to the 6,000 who are currently quarantined and those who have lost their lives
to the COVID-19 virus. We urge President Trump and the entire Congress to
work together on commonsense
policies to ensure the continued operations of the U.S. Postal Service
through this crisis.
3. UPS: ramping up around-the-clock operations to provide PPE
April 08, 2020
25 UPS-managed flights will deliver
more than three million pounds of materials including masks, surgical gowns,
gloves, medical swabs and thermometers in high-demand within the U.S.
healthcare system.
UPS is managing and
brokering the charter flights in support of Project Airbridge, a coordinated
effort between the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), numerous
countries and the private sector designed to expedite the arrival of critical
supplies needed in U.S. hospitals.
In a news conference from the White House Rose Garden on
March 29, President Trump said, “FEMA is working with these companies to launch
Project Airbridge to expedite the movement of critical supplies from other
countries to the United States.”
“UPS Healthcare, and
our full portfolio of services, is providing a suite of highly-choreographed
logistics solutions in support of Project Airbridge,” said UPS Chairman and
CEO, David Abney. “In addition to managing and brokering air freight flights,
UPS is ramping up around-the-clock operations to provide receipt of PPE and
kitting for distribution to hospitals and hot spots around the country. We are
bringing the full power of our integrated global logistics network to bear to
assist FEMA in the pandemic fight.”
The first charter
flights have already arrived, and will continue for the next two weeks.
Led by FEMA and the
White House Coronavirus Taskforce, Project Airbridge is a partnership between
UPS and large U.S. healthcare distributors including Cardinal Health and
others, and the U.S. federal government.
UPS is providing air
freight brokerage services on third-party aircraft, as well as on UPS-owned
aircraft. Goods will be distributed at the direction of FEMA to hospitals and
COVID-19 hot spots throughout the country.
Simultaneously, UPS’s
Healthcare division opened a new 450,000 square-foot healthcare distribution
center on April 4, with dedicated space for FEMA. The facility is located just
a few miles from UPS Worldport, the company’s automated global air hub, in
Louisville, KY. With that proximity, UPS has the ability to quickly fulfill
orders for delivery overnight, anywhere in the U.S.
The UPS Supply Chain
Solutions business unit offers transportation and freight services, logistics
and distribution, consulting, and customs brokerage services – and FEMA is
taking advantage of almost every aspect of UPS Supply Chain Solutions’
capabilities.
4. Poste Italiane and Carabinieri together to deliver the pension to the elderly
April 06, 2020
Thanks to the collaboration between Poste and the Armadei Carabinieri, 23,000 pensioners aged 75 and over will be able to request the delivery of the pension at home for the duration of the emergency from Covid -19, thus avoiding having to go to the Post Offices.
Poste Italiane and the Armadei Carabinieri have signed an agreement whereby all citizens aged 75 and over who receive social security benefits at post offices, which normally collect their pension in cash, can request to receive the sums for free in cash at their home, delegating the Carabinieri to the retreat. The service cannot be rendered to those who have already delegated other subjects to collect, have a passbook or a postal account or who live with family members or in any case these are residing in the vicinity of their home.
The agreement is part of the wider effort put in place by the two institutional partners, each in its own field of activity, to counter the spread of Covid-19 and mitigate its effects, also through the adoption of extraordinary measures aimed at avoiding displacements. physical bodies of people, and in particular of the subjects at greatest risk, in any case ensuring the maintenance of the interpersonal distance of at least one meter. The initiative also allows to protect beneficiaries from the commission of crimes against them, such as scams, robberies and snatches.
Based on the agreement just
signed, the Carabinieri will go to the post office counters to collect the
pension allowances and then deliver them to the home of the beneficiaries who
have requested it from the Italian Post Office by issuing a special written
proxy. Pensioners can contact the toll-free number 800 55 66 70 made
available by Poste or call the nearest Carabinieri station to request more
information.
The collaboration is the result of the awareness of both subscribers to play a strategic role in support of the country and confirms their vocation for proximity to the most fragile territories and categories. The result came from the ability of the Carabinieri and operators of the Italian Post Office to intercept the needs of the population and to succeed, thanks to the widespread presence of both the Carabinieri Station Command and the Post Offices throughout the country, to provide an effective and supportive service.
The Armadei Carabinieri and Poste Italiane will continue to ensure the provision and delivery of pensions to the over seventy-five-year-olds for the entire duration of the Covid-19 emergency.
Source :https://www.posteitaliane.it/it/comunicati
5. Posti is helping to distribute the authorities’ letter to citizens regarding the coronavirus
April 06, 2020
In part of the country, Posti is distributing the letter from
the authorities for the citizens regarding the coronavirus. The letter is aimed
at making sure that each citizen receives information about the coronavirus and
how to prepare for it.
The government decided on March 12 to send an info package to
the homes of all Finns as part of the effort to restrict the spread of the
coronavirus. The letter was implemented by the National Institute for Health
and Welfare together with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
“In this crisis, the importance of cooperation between
different actors has been highlighted even more than before. It is important
for us here at Posti that we are also able to help fulfill our social
responsibility in terms of this letter for Finnish citizens,” says
Posti’s Sami Reponen.
Posti has already delivered the info packages in the Helsinki
region. Next week, on Thursday, April 4, Posti will also deliver info packages
in other parts of the country, in the areas marked in green. The deliveries are
to be carried out by another delivery company in the areas marked in red.
No 30-2020
Formulated by UNI AproPost and Logistics Sector
1. DHL parcel stimulating e-commerce.April 09, 2020.
2. Swiss
Post, retail, logistics and social partners work together to maintain parcel
provision in Switzerland.April 08, 2020.
3. Japan suspends airmail. April 07, 2020.
4.
Postal Workers Wary of Federal
Government’s Partnership with Amazon Canada. April 06, 2020.
5.
La Poste
strengthens its organisations to better meet the expectations of its
customers. April 03, 2020.
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1. DHL parcel stimulating e-commerce
April 09, 2020
In Germany, DHL Parcel has launched a new initiative to
support local retailers start selling online.
The “DHL lokalhandeln” initiative is aimed at retailers who
were forced to close their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic. DHL is
helping shop owners learn how to ship their products to customers and how to
make them available online.
Deutsche Post is helping each retailer spread the word about
the availability of their products online by helping create simple and
cost-effective regional mail campaigns.
“I believe that in the current crisis customers want to
support local businesses.” - Tobias Meyer, Deutsche Post DHL Group Board Member
for Post & Parcel Germany
German e-commerce plummets
E-commerce in Germany collapsed by almost 20 percent in March
2020 compared to the same period in the previous year, according to research by
bevh, the German E-Commerce and Distance Selling Trade Association. Online
groceries, drugstores, medicines and do-it-yourself or hardware stores recorded
significant increases, but other categories suffered.
“E-commerce is now a normal shopping channel. That is why
such a crisis in consumer sentiment has a full impact on our industry.” -
GeroFurchheim, president of the bevh and spokesman for the board of Cairo AG.
The bevh says demand is now picking up, and that is why
standardised approvals of contactless "Click & Collect" are now
needed. Such an initiative would help stores stocked with perishable items that
need to be shifted.
Turning back the clock
An initiative to help retailers sell online sounds like
something from ten or 20 years ago, but clearly there’s a need to help local
retailers sell online when there are restrictions on public movement.
E-commerce will continue on its upward trajectory, even once
people are allowed to move about freely, but will it be e-commerce delivery or
click-and-collect that emerges stronger?
Source :http://www.thepostalhub.com/blog
2. Swiss Post, retail, logistics and social partners work together to maintain parcel provision in Switzerland
April 08, 2020
People can no
longer go to shops to buy all the products they want. They have to stay at home
and shop online. Since the beginning of the crisis, online retail has
experienced an enormous increase in orders throughout Switzerland. These
numbers are presenting everyone with serious challenges, not least Swiss Post
logistics. On behalf of DETEC and Swiss Post overall management, leading trade
and logistics representatives, as well as the social partners, agreed on a
package of measures yesterday during round-table talks. This extraordinary,
collaborative feat allows people to stay safe at home, remain supplied and at
the same time maintains supply systems until further notice throughout
Switzerland.
The Coronavirus crisis is challenging people
and businesses in the whole of Switzerland to unprecedented levels. Lots of
people are staying at home where they are safe and ordering online because many
shops are closed. Businesses want to have their goods delivered and Swiss Post
wants to deliver them in a reliable way. On Tuesday, the CEOs of the big
retailers and logistics managers, as well as the social partners, met for
round-table talks at the Swiss Post headquarters and agreed on a comprehensive
package of measures. The goal of all concerned is to ensure supply security and
as such, universal service throughout Switzerland, even during this crisis. The
measures are intended to guarantee the highest possible level of goods flow in
online retail whilst at the same time ensuring that employee health does not
suffer.
Easing the burden on parcel centers
The parcel volume processed by our employees
in the parcel centers is causing a bottleneck. The number of parcels sorted is
directly dependent on the number of employees in the parcel centers. Due to
social distancing regulations, this number cannot be arbitrarily
increased.Against this backdrop, the partners decided, amongst other things, on
the following relief measures:
·
In future, small parcels will be sorted more and
more via the letter mail supply chain.
·
Several Swiss parcel service providers and
logistics providers are making part of their sorting and transport capacities
available to Swiss Post.
·
Click&Collect: this system sees to it that
more and more goods ordered online can be collected from the retailers’ sales
outlets and Swiss Post branches.
·
Retailers individually assume responsibility for
a part of the pre-sorting for Swiss Post.
·
In the interests of managing the current
challenge together, stakeholders are working closely together to ensure volumes
are managed in the best possible way.
Depending on how parcel volumes and the
situation in Switzerland develop, we must however expect that more measures
will become necessary in the coming weeks.
Roberto Cirillo, Swiss Post CEO, had the
following to say on the results of the round of talks: “Together we have
assumed social responsibility and we are showing what we can achieve in the
shortest possible time, even in times of crisis. Competitors and social
partners sat with us for round-table discussions and all parties made an
important contribution to the solution. Symbolically and cooperatively, we are
standing should to shoulder − and this in times of physical distancing. I would
like to thank all those who took part for their constructive contributions to
the solution which continues to ensure universal provision in Switzerland.”
Fabrice Zumbrunnen, Chair of the Corporate Executive
Committee of the Federation of Migros Cooperatives:
“The measures agreed upon show that we are
standing together across our company borders and have a common goal: people in
Switzerland should still be able to order the goods they need. In the coming
weeks too, we want to be there for everyone who is staying at home.”
Joos Sutter, Chief Executive Officer of the Coop
group:
“Joint measures which go beyond borders are
the key to finding good solutions for our customers in times like these.”
Patrick Kessler, Chair of the Swiss Mail Order
Association:
“Together we were successfully able to react
to the flood of parcels with additional measures. But it’s not all done and
dusted. We all have a responsibility to maintain the goods provision situation
in Switzerland.”
Peter Sutterlüti, Chair of "KEP+Mail”:
“Alongside their own duties, private KEP+Mail
postal service providers are supporting Swiss Post as best they can to ensure
parcel provision.”
Roland Brack, Founder and Owner of Competec Holding
AG:
“It is not possible to handle the entire
non-food market volume in one fell swoop with online retail and by delivery
with the given delivery capacities. For this reason, we urgently need to
incorporate fixed shop formats into national provision if the FOPH guidelines
on social distancing are to be guaranteed.”
Thomas Meier, CEO of Lehner Versand AG:
“Having all the major decision-makers around
a table brought us all a step closer to each other.”
Matteo Antonini, Head of the Logistics Sector at
Syndicom:
“We were pleased that within this working
group, we were able to discuss the problems and the unique situation the
logistics employees are experiencing in this crisis period.”
3. Japan suspends airmail
April 07, 2020
Japan’s postal service has suspended the acceptance
of airmail from 126 countries including 35 European and 25 north and
central nations.
The suspension comes with reduced air travel to and from Japan and mainly
includes EMS and parcel-post/letter-post items.
Also included in the temporary suspension, which began on April 2,
are 86 countries which are provided
with SAL services.
Items which have already been accepted and cannot be dispatched to
their destinations will be returned from the delivery offices to the senders in
order. In addition, because of the global reduction of flights, considerable
delivery delays are expected for outbound mail items to other
countries/territories.
4. Postal Workers Wary of Federal Government’s Partnership with Amazon Canada
April 06, 2020
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is
concerned that a new distribution deal may be rewarding Amazon Canada for
creating stressful, precarious jobs; ignoring workers’ demands for health and
safety; and interfering with their right to unionize.
On April 3, the Government of Canada
announced its intention to work closely with the tech giant to manage the
distribution of personal protective equipment and supplies, purchased by the
Canadian government. The announcement was made without consultation of postal
workers.
“We have urgent questions and serious
concerns about the deal,” says Jan Simpson, CUPW National President. “Amazon is
notorious for relying on precarious employment – where workers’ schedules and
status are fundamentally uncertain and unstable.”
As the COVID-19 crisis continues, healthcare
workers and service workers must have access to personal protective equipment.
“Oversight is going to be crucial,” says
Simpson. “How will the public be assured that worker rights are respected the
way they should be by a federal contractor? How will we be assured that they’re
really doing this ‘at cost?’ We certainly don’t need anyone using this crisis
to line Jeff Bezos’ pockets any more than it is.”
The government’s decision will put further
strain on workers who are already not properly protected. Amazon uses numerous
subcontractors throughout its delivery operations.
Warehouse workers are at risk of losing their
jobs, or of being pressured to continue working, even when they get sick.
“I want Amazon workers in the fulfilment
centres to know that CUPW will be fighting for all workers in this
arrangement’s supply chain,” adds Simpson.
“Now that the federal government has hired
your employer, they must not wash their hands of violations of your rights, and
conditions that endanger you. CUPW has been fighting to confront abuses of
workers in the gig economy. CUPW has been able to improve health and safety at
Canada Post during this crisis, and it is your right to work in a healthy and
safe environment, and to have a collective voice to improve your work
conditions.”
CUPW is writing to the government to detail
our concerns relating to labour rights, health and safety, and data protection
and privacy. CUPW is to participate in a federal briefing on the arrangement and
will learn more in the coming days.
Source :https://www.cupw.ca/en
5. La Poste strengthens its organisations to better meet the
expectations of its customers
April 03, 2020
Since the beginning of the health crisis, La Poste
has constantly adapted its organisations to protect the health of postal
workers and customers, ensure the continuity and accessibility of public
service all over the country and thus contribute to the nation's effort. After
having implemented a basic industrial organisation since the beginning of the
containment which has enabled La Poste to carry out its missions on a long-term
basis, today La Poste announced that it will reinforce its teams to gradually increase
the number of delivery days of the daily press, parcels and letters and enhance
the accessibility of its network in the priority districts of the city and also
in rural areas.
Reinforcing
teams responsible for mail to gradually increase the number of delivery days of
the press, parcels and letters
Since
Monday 30 March, the working time of each postman in mail/parcel offices has
been reduced and spread over three consecutive days, followed by four days of
confinement. The organisation of shifts was also implemented for the teams. It
enables social services (visits to the elderly, carrying meals, medication) to
be provided on a daily basis and to deliver parcels, mail and press on
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday.
This
heavy organisational transformation, implemented in conjunction with health
authorities, occupational medicine and union organisations, is now stabilised
and includes the health security requirements essential for postal workers and
customers. Based on of this basic organisation, La Poste can now strengthen its
measures.
As of
Monday 6 April 2020, La Poste will call on 3,000 additional people, with a
gradual increase over the following weeks. Of course, La Poste will apply the
same protection rules and the same health and safety requirements for the
back-up staff as those for the postal workers. The back-up staff will include
volunteers who can provide support services, employees of the MEDIAPOST
subsidiary, temporary workers and people employed under fixed-term contracts.
This
new organisation will enable, subject to health requirements, to do the
following actions:
§ To
deliver the daily press to subscribers an additional day (Monday or Tuesday) as
from 6 April 2020, and gradually ensure this delivery on Monday and Tuesday
§ To
gradually deliver parcels and mail 4 days a week
Enhancing
accessibility to ATM and post offices in the priority districts of the city
during the payment of social benefits
On
Monday 30 March, La Poste announced the introduction of adapted measures so
that social benefits recipients and La Banque Postale customers can withdraw
cash in the best possible conditions, especially given the need to respect
protective measures during this busy period in post offices. As of 4 April,
they will be able to withdraw cash via ATMs and in 1,850 post offices all over
the country from 6 April. La Poste has announced today that this system, which
will mobilise 20,000 postal workers over the period, will also be reinforced in
the priority districts of the city.
390 post offices will be open within the priority
districts of the city or in the immediate vicinity. In addition, 90% post
offices' ATMs located in these priority districts, including those that are
closed, will be supplied and accessible to the public.
Enhancing
accessibility to La Poste network in rural areas
La
Poste will increase its presence in rural areas, with the aim that, in all
these departments, more than 60% of the inhabitants will be at less than 5 km
or less than 20 minutes by car from a postal point (and at least 50% in the few
departments that are very rural). To do this, La Poste will reopen 400 offices
next week, usually run by a “postman-counter clerk" (a postman who runs
the office in addition to his round), and 600 more from the second week of
April.
Regarding
the contact points, approximately 1,000 out of 6,500 municipal postal agencies
remained open thanks to the Mayors. La Poste is already working with the French
Mayors’ Association and the chairs of the intermunicipal bodies to increase
this number as much as possible.
Faced
with this unprecedented crisis, La Poste takes into account the evolution of
the health situation, the resources at its disposal and the services that are
essential for the population, to adapt its organisations and thus participate
in the nation's effort.